PUBLICATION

A Model organism approach: Defining the role of Neph proteins as regulators of neuron and kidney morphogenesis

Authors
Neumann-Haefelin, E., Kramer-Zucker, A., Slanchev, K., Hartleben, B., Noutsou, F., Martin, K., Wanner, N., Ritter, A., Gödel, M., Pagel, P., Fu, X., Müller, A., Baumeister, R., Walz, G., and Huber, T.B.
ID
ZDB-PUB-100322-2
Date
2010
Source
Human molecular genetics   19(12): 2347-2359 (Journal)
Registered Authors
Kramer-Zucker, Albrecht, Slanchev, Krasimir
Keywords
none
MeSH Terms
  • Amino Acid Sequence
  • Animals
  • Caenorhabditis elegans/genetics
  • Caenorhabditis elegans/growth & development
  • Caenorhabditis elegans/metabolism
  • Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins/classification
  • Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins/genetics
  • Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins/physiology
  • Cell Adhesion
  • HeLa Cells
  • Humans
  • Immunoglobulins/classification
  • Immunoglobulins/genetics
  • Immunoglobulins/physiology*
  • Kidney/growth & development*
  • Membrane Proteins/classification
  • Membrane Proteins/genetics
  • Membrane Proteins/physiology*
  • Mice
  • Models, Animal
  • Morphogenesis/genetics
  • Neurons/physiology*
  • PDZ Domains
  • Phylogeny
PubMed
20233749 Full text @ Hum. Mol. Genet.
Abstract
Mutations of the immunoglobulin superfamily proteins nephrin and Neph1 lead to congenital nephrotic syndrome in humans or mice. Neph proteins are three closely related molecules that are evolutionarily conserved and mediate cell recognition. Their importance for morphogenetic processes including the formation of the kidney filtration barrier in vertebrates and synaptogenesis in C. elegans has recently been uncovered. However, the individual morphogenetic function of mammalian Neph1-3 isoforms remained elusive. We demonstrate now that the Neph/nephrin family proteins can form cell-cell adhesion modules across species. Expression of all three mammalian Neph isoforms partially rescued mutant C. elegans lacking their Neph homolog syg-1 and restored synapse formation, suggesting a functional redundancy between the three isoforms. Strikingly, the rescue of defective synaptic connectivity was prevented by deletion of the highly conserved cytoplasmic PDZ binding motif of SYG-1/Neph proteins indicating the critical role of this intracellular signaling motif for SYG-1/Neph-dependent morphogenetic events. To determine the significance of Neph isoform redundancy for vertebrate kidney development we analyzed the expression pattern and the functional role of Neph proteins in zebrafish. In situ hybridizations identified zNeph1 and zNeph2 as glomerular proteins. Morpholino knockdown of either zNeph1 or zNeph2 resulted in loss of slit-diaphragms and leakiness of the glomerular filtration barrier. This is the first report utilizing C. elegans to study mammalian Neph/nephrin protein function and to demonstrate a functional overlap of Neph1-3 proteins. Furthermore, we identify Neph2 as a novel critical regulator of glomerular function indicating that both Neph1 and Neph2 are required for glomerular maintenance and development.
Genes / Markers
Figures
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Expression
Phenotype
Mutations / Transgenics
Human Disease / Model
Sequence Targeting Reagents
Fish
Antibodies
Orthology
Engineered Foreign Genes
Mapping